Jenny Lewis on collaborating with Ryan Adams: “It was pretty random, actually”

Alongside her ever-growing list of creative outlets, Jenny also experienced some of the more difficult moments of her life: as the band she had spent the last decade in was crumbling at her feet, she was also faced with the loss of her estranged father. Plagued with insomnia but possessing a wealth of unfinished songs, it was only when she found herself heading to the newly-built Pax Am Studios, that she came upon her saving grace. His name was Ryan Adams.

“It was pretty random actually,” she says, of how the pair came to work together. “I heard that he had opened a studio, Pax Am, an all-analogue studio in Hollywood and I was looking for a very low-key place to record a new song that I had just finished. I went in with very low expectations; it was really an opportunity to hang out with Ryan and record the song. By the end of the day, we both agreed that I would recut my whole record over there.”

Jenny also admits that working with Ryan really opened her up. “He’s a hard man to resist in a way,” she ponders. “He’s got so much creative energy and he’s so charming. It was almost like I didn’t know what was happening, things happened so quickly and he’s got so much energy, that I just submitted. Obviously, I have so much respect for him as a songwriter, so going into a session with a producer who also really understands songs was great.”

Having sat on the songs she had written for the past three years, it’s also no surprise that things clicking into place with Ryan lifted a weight from her shoulders. “It was such a relief!” she laughs, “to find someone to help me. You know, I felt so alone in the process. Having come from a band situation where you really rely on one another, musically and spiritually, you have that support. Being a solo artist, at the end of the day, it’s your call. I felt so grateful to have someone, first of all, so interested in my songs and by the end of the day, I couldn’t even believe that I had found what I was looking for.”

Taken from the July issue of DIY, out now. Jenny Lewis’ new album ‘The Voyager’ will be released on 28th July via Warner Bros. Records.

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